Monthly Archives: May 2012

May27

Macedonia

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Γειά σου (Yassou) or hello!  It has rained nearly everyday since we have been in Eastern Europe.  It is so refreshing!  A cold front swept across all of Europe the day we got in which has kept the temperatures down.  According to locals it is usually pretty hot here during this time of year.  I have seen so many amazingly decorated cafes that I want to show all of you.  I’m going to take a day to be a total tourist and go around the city snapping pictures of my favorite places.

On Monday Joel and I took a four-hour bus ride north into Skopje, Macedonia to meet up with a few of the people we are traveling with.  The ride was beautiful! Macedonia is an undiscovered treasure.  It is covered in green mountains with foothills full of vineyards, rivers and wild poppies growing everywhere.

The population in Macedonia is around 2 million and 50% of the population lives in Skopje.  Skopje is the birthplace of Mother Theresa. The people of Skopje were so friendly and welcoming.  The area where we stayed was the new part of town where the government is putting up monuments and building extravagant buildings to build up the tourist industry.  It was quite a site to see.

Dividing the city is a river and on the other side is considered old town where it is heavily populated by Albanians and Roma Gypsys.  Our friends staying there have made friends with many of the gypsy children who hang out in the city.

They were so precious!

Old town is filled with small winding streets lined with shops and cafes.

Then on Thursday we woke up at 4:30am, 9:30 pm on Wednesday, Texas time, to catch our bus back.  Since we have returned I really feel settled in and at home in Thessaloniki. Last night we found a mexican food restaurant called El Burrito where they surprisingly had amazing mexican food.  It was so comforting to eat tortilla chips! Hope everyone back home is doing well.  I miss all of you and love ya!

With love,
Lauren

May22

Greetings From Greece

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Greetings from Thessaloniki, Greece!!!!  Ahh we have finally settled in enough for me to be able to sit down and write.   I’m sitting at a Starbucks that overlooks the Aegean Sea, how blessed the people of Thessaloniki are to have the opportunity to live here.   I can’t believe I’m in a city where parts of the original church were birthed.   There are land marks where the apostle Paul preached!

We traveled for over 30 hours and have spent the past few days getting adjusted to our new life in Thessaloniki.  Thessaloniki a city of 1.5 million people, is very different from San Marcos, Texas.  The city buzzes 24/7.  We woke this morning to the sound of a parade outside of our apartment in downtown Thessaloniki.  We are adjusting quickly and learning the city and have already made new friends.  I am so excited to see what God has in store for us over the next month.

On the way over we had a 13 hour layover in Zurich, Switzerland where we were able to get out of the airport and explore the city.   Zurich was the quietest, most peaceful city I’ve ever been in.  It is very orderly and clean.  I didn’t see one piece of trash on the ground!  The people are reserved and well put together. Here are a few pictures I snapped.

There were cobblestone streets everywhere.

And of course I will always find antique shops no matter where I am in the world!

Greece is very different from Switzerland.  It is loud and colorful and messy.  It isn’t illegal to double park and there is graffiti art all over the city.  It isn’t unusual to see two men standing in the street arguing and throwing their arms in the air.  The people in Greece are very fashionable and spend a lot of time in small street side cafes with friends drinking coffee and smoking.  They have been so friendly and have welcomed us to their city.  I haven’t had my camera with me that much but here are a few pictures.

This is Kamara, the old city gate.  The new city is built up all around old ruins.

Stay tuned for more!
With love,
Lauren

May9

My Favorite Spot

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There are only five days until we leave for Eastern Europe!  I should be packing and getting our house ready for the house sitters but instead I’ve been decorating!  Are you surprised? My favorite spot in our house to decorate and photograph is the buffet in our dining room.  I actually never really use it as a serving buffet because it always has my latest creation on it.
Up until this afternoon it looked like a potting table.

Here is what it looks like now.

I added whites and creams to give it a summery feel.

When I decorate I love to pull items from all over my house.  The small tea-pot I bought in Northern Africa last summer and usually sits on a shelf in my kitchen.  The books are from the office.
I also love things with imperfections like the chip on the pitcher or the scratched up clock face.

We have a neighborhood flock of Guinea Fowl.  If you don’t know what a Guinea Fowl is, this is a Guinea Fowl.

  They are hilarious to watch.  They remind me of old, busy-body ladies walking to church.  What I love about them are their white polka-dotted feathers they leave lying around our neighborhood.  Often, when I’m out on a walk I come home with a handful of feathers and as a result they get integrated into my home decor!

Here I tied a few books together with an old strip of leather and stuck two Guinea Fowl feathers in the knot.

Now my life isn’t all play and no work but the great thing about my job is I can take a break from work and play around my house.  I’m discovering that I get bored easily so it is very healthy for me to take decorating breaks:)  I recently finished a coffee table for a customer.  Here is what it originally looked like.

You can see my kitchen is my work shop!

The customer wanted the table to have a more spanish hacienda style so this is what I did.

I covered the top in a camel colored faux leather, added large nail heads and stained the base in a dark walnut.

I absolutely love how it turned out!

Ok off to bed so I can start my packing tomorrow!

With love,
Lauren

May2

What We’ve Been Up To

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We have had a great past few days.  We spent dinner Friday night at one of our good friends’ house, out on their amazing deck.  This Spring has been so awesome here in Texas, the wildflowers are amazing and the nights have stayed cool which has allowed for many outdoor dinners.  A huge contrast to last year’s Spring that was dry, hot and brown.  Saturday we headed to Fredericksburg with my parents to enjoy the Hill Country Wine & Music Festival at the Wildseed Farm.

The wine makers seemed to have found a solution for the drought problem in Texas!

Our family is definitely not  wine connoisseurs but it was fun to act like one even if it was just for a day!  The thing I enjoyed the most was all the wildflowers.  The Wildseed Farm has rows and rows of flowers in bloom.  They reminded me of something you would see in Holland.  I snapped a few pictures to share with all of you.

Then on Monday we had the last dinner of the semester with the student group that meets in our house.  We decided to take dinner outside.  It was a magical night.

How was your weekend? Do anything fun?

With love,
Lauren